Former youth baseball coach convicted a second time

Staff Report

CONCORD — Former youth baseball coach Robert Joubert, 60, has now been convicted in both U.S. District Court and, this week, in Merrimack County Superior Court, of sexually assaulting or exploiting a young boy.

.Joubert, who was a Manchester resident, ran baseball coaching programs in New Hampshire and Maine before allegations were made in 2012 about his sexual assault of young boys.

Assistant Merrimack County Attorney Kristin Vartanian Thursday said a decision has not yet been made on whether to go to trial on additional indictments in Merrimack County involving other children...She said Joubert won't be sentenced for at least 45 days on this week's Merrimack County Superior Court sexual assault convictions, because a presentence investigation must be done. In February, Joubert was sentenced to 40 years in prison on his November 2013 federal convictions for sexual exploitation and possession of child pornography...Joubert has been indicted on additional charges in Merrimack County, including a set of sexual assault charges involving a young girl in 1999, but Vartanian said the decision on whether to go to trial on those cases won't be decided until after discussions with those victims...The sentence on this week's convictions could also play a part in that decision.

Joubert was indicted by the Hillsborough County Grand Jury in August 2012 on seven felony and misdemeanor sexual assault and attempted sexual assault charges involving three children...He was also indicted on a felony charge of falsifying physical evidence, for allegedly destroying the hard drive of his computer and throwing it out with the trash in June 2012, after being contacted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation about an investigation regarding sexual assaults on minors...Joubert also faces a possible second trial in U.S. District Court, after he requested, and was granted, separate trials on charges involving two boys. He said he planned to testify in one of those trials, involving a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y...Most of the assaults for which he has been convicted or indicted occurred between 1984 and 2004 and involved boys under age 13, with the exception of the aggravated felonious sexual assault charges involving a 17-year-old girl...